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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I have returned from my excellent adventure in Portland, a bit jet-lagged, but definitely energized by my experience at the Vida Vegan Blogging Conference. The event was probably the best-organized conference I've ever attended, thanks to 3 smart vegan cookies: Jess, Michele and Janessa. I gave one workshop, "Extreme Food Writing Makeover," which was a blast. I also participated in a panel discussion on "Reality, Identity and Blogging."

Powell's, the mother of all bookstores. I could have spent a week in here,

Attending the conference was like living in Vegan Utopia for a long weekend. For one thing, I didn't have to question any of the food I was eating. Plus, I didn't have to "translate" any words/concepts from omni to vegan. It was a given that the burgers, ice cream and cheese were plant-based. Perhaps Julie Hasson said it best, "It's refreshing being around a bunch of people who like kale." 'Nuff said. I'll let the photos do the talking.

That looks like it was amazing fun! And how nice it would be to be able to grab whatever you wanted to eat for days at a time without researching, asking for modifications, and all. Not that I don't like cooking my own, but sometimes it would be nice to go to a restaurant where I had more than a couple of choices.

Although it was far too brief, I'm so happy we could finally meet up in person! You're even kinder and lovelier than I had imagined, and trust me, I don't just dole out compliments like that without meaning them. :)

Brought back some great recent memories, Dynise. I'm just getting around to recording mine now. It was so wonderful to spend time with you-- the time is so brief at these things. It just doesn't seem fair that we don't all live near each other! I took notes st your workshop and I really am censoring my exclamation points. (it's hard, though)